All eyes are on Canham Natatorium this week, as the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team goes for its fourth consecutive conference championship when it hosts the 2014 Big Ten Championships, running from Wednesday (Feb. 26) to Saturday (March 1). The event kicks off with two relay events on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. The next three days, preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m., with event finals commencing at 6:30 p.m.

All-session passes are still available. To purchase, contact the Michigan Athletics Ticket Office at (866) 296-MTIX or online at www.MGoBlue.com/tickets. All-session passes are $40 (adults) and $25 (youth/senior/students). Single-session passes will be available at the door only prior to each session. Single-session passes are priced at $8 (adult) and $5 (youth/senior/student).

The finals on Saturday night can be seen live on BTN2Go, which can be accessed online at www.btn2go.com or on mobile devices through your cable provider. Saturday night's finals will be shown on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, March 2, at 10:30 a.m. Bernie Guenther (play-by-play), Rowdy Gaines (swimming analyst) and David Boudia (sideline) will call the action.

The following Michigan swimmers are ranked in the top eight of the Big Ten Conference. The top eight would be in the 'A' final at this week's meet. The number in parenthesis correlates to the number of men ranked in each event. Five U-M swimmers hold the conference's top times heading into this week's meet: Bruno Ortiz(50 FR, 100 FR), Michael Wynalda(200 FR), Connor Jaeger(500 FR, 1,650 FR), Richard Funk(100 BR, 200 BR) and Dylan Bosch(100 FL, 200 FL, 200 IM, 400 IM).

 Michigan has won 37 Big Ten Conference team championships, most of any other conference member (Indiana is second with 24). The Wolverines are searching for their fourth consecutive conference title, a streak that has not happened since 1992-95, the last of 10 consecutive titles under legendary head coach Jon Urbanchek. In total, U-M student-athletes have won 483 titles -- 346 in individual swimming events, 119 on relays and 18 in diving.

 In awards, a Michigan swimmer has been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 16 of the last 20 seasons (last: Dan Madwed in 2012) and has had the Big Ten Freshman of the Year on 12 occasions since 1992 (last: Dylan Boschin 2013). At the championships level, Michigan has been awarded the Swimmer of the Championships in four of the last six meets: 2012 (Dan Madwed), 2009-10 (Tyler Clary), 2008 (Alex Vanderkaay).

 The Wolverines are hosting the Big Ten Championships for the 13th time and for the first time since 2008. U-M has won the team title the last three times it has hosted (2008, 2003, 2000) and six times overall (others: 1990, 1942, 1931). U-M has never finished lower than second in the 13 times it has hosted the Big Ten Championships.

 Michigan posted 899 points and won 12 of 21 events to win last season's title in Bloomington, Ind., defeating the host Hoosiers by a whopping 235 points. Ten different swimmers won individual or relay titles, including six from Bruno Ortiz, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle while swimming on four winning relay teams. Mike Bottomwas named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year, while Dylan Boschwas tabbed as Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Eleven swimmers earned All-Big Ten honors. [ Recap ]

 The Wolverines have a history of dominance at the Big Ten Championships. Michigan has several title-winning streaks heading into this week's championships: 13 in the 800-yard freestyle relay (2001-13), eight in the 200-yard freestyle (2006-13), seven in the 400-yard medley relay (2008-13), five in the 100-yard butterfly (2009-13), four in the 200-yard butterfly (2010-13) and four in the 200-yard medley relay (2010-13). In the distance freestyle races, Michigan has won 19 of the last 21 conference titles in both the 500-yard freestyle (no wins in 1996 and 2010) and 1,650-yard freestyle (no wins in 2003 and 2010).

 In the four championships that have been held in this decade alone, Michigan has crowned a champion in every individual swimming or relay race except for three: the 100-yard backstroke (last: Alon Mandel in 2009), the 100-yard breaststroke (last: Scott Spann in 2008) and the 200-yard breaststroke (last: Scott Spann in 2008).

 U-M holds Big Ten Championships records in 10 events, including six from last season's meet in Bloomington:

 Since 2008, Michigan has won at least one Big Ten title in all 18 swimming events (individual and relay). The longest drought is now at five years for both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke. The last U-M swimmer to win a Big Ten title in those events was Scott Spann, who won both in 2008 (also held at Michigan).

 In the diving events, Michigan has won 18 conference titles across all boards. The last U-M diver to win a conference title was Jason Coben, who won both one-meter and platform in 2004. Michigan has not had a student-athlete win three-meter since Matthew Chelich in 1979.

 In his five years as head coach, Mike Bottomhas led U-M to four Big Ten championships and five top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including the team title last season. During that stretch, Bottom has coached Michigan's men's swimmers to 57 Big Ten individual and relay titles. He has also been named Big Ten Swimming Coach of the Year in three consecutive seasons. Since the award was first handed out in 1987, only two men have won it more than Bottom: Michigan's Jon Urbanchek (nine times) and Minnesota's Dennis Dale (six times).

 Freshmen Jack Manganand Jason Chenpicked up Big Ten weekly honors after combining for five wins and six NCAA 'B' cuts at the First Chance Meet last weekend (Feb. 22-23) at Canham Natatorium.

 Senior Connor Jaegerand sophomore Dylan Boschenter this week's championship with undefeated streaks. Jaeger has not been defeated in the 500-yard freestyle (and only swam the 1,650-yard freestyle once, winning that only swim), while Bosch is perfect in the 200-yard butterfly.

The following U-M swimmers and divers have automatically or provisionally qualified for the 2014 NCAA Championships, set to be held March 27-29 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. In total, in individual events, U-M has achieved 79 total NCAA 'A' or 'B' times and six NCAA Zone Diving qualifying scores: